Stuff for Your House
Going out of business signs have been popping up all over the country at mom-and-pop furniture stores as well as at giant home furnishing chains like Linens N' Things, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year. Inventory reduction sales on furniture and decorative items typically lead to 50% to 70% savings and give you the ability to buy at or below the wholesale price. You can also do well with second-hand goods. "A quick scan of any community's Craigslist unearths a seemingly endless supply of high-end used furniture," notes Dannielle Kyrillos, editor-at-large at DailyCandy.com. Some of the best deals, she says, are in high-end bedding and towels, which can be found online at her site and others like Overstock.com and OneKingsLane.com. Another broad bargain area is flat-screen TVs. A Sony 52-inch Bravia HDTV was recently available on Nextag.com for $1,650 — less than half of what a 42-inch version cost just a couple years ago.